CPR mannequin

ABSTRACT

A CPR mannequin for practising cardiopulmonary resuscitation of a human has a simulated human head and neck portion with an air passage extending from a mouth opening to neck opening in an end of the neck remote from the head, and an inflatable simulated human chest portion secured to the neck and having a flexible wall member simulating a chest which rises and falls with inflation and deflation of the chest portion. The inflatable chest portion has an air capacity representative of a lung capacity of a human adult, and a further air passage connecting the air passage in the neck to the inflatable chest portion. The inflatable chest portion has a releasable retainer which operates before release to reduce the air capacity of the chest portion to a column representative of the lung capacity of a human child, the releasable retainer being released by air pressure caused by continued blowing of air into the mouth opening when the chest portion has been inflated to an extent representative of the lung capacity of a human child. The mannequin also has a resiliently compressible simulated human heart portion located beneath the inflatable simulated human chest portion.

This invention relates to CPR mannequins for practising cardiopulmonaryresuscitation of a human.

Various mannequins have been proposed for this purpose but most areeither too complex or are too over-simplified.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a satisfactory CPRmannequin which is neither unduly complex or over-simplified.

According to the invention, a CPR mannequin for practisingcardiopulmonary resuscitation of a human comprises a simulated humanhead and neck portion with an air passage extending from a mouth openingto neck opening in an end of the neck remote from the head, aninflatable simulated human chest portion secured to the neck and havinga flexible wall member simulating a chest which rises and falls withinflation and deflation of the chest portion, the inflatable chestportion having an air capacity representative of a lung capacity of ahuman adult, and a further air passage connecting the air passage in theneck to the inflatable chest portion.

The mannequin may have a flow control valve assembly in the further airpassage operable to permit air blown through the mouth opening to passthrough the air passage in the head and neck portion and through thefurther air passage into the chest portion to inflate the chest portionand cause the flexible chest wall member to rise, the flow control valveassembly causing air from the chest portion when deflating to bereleased to the atmosphere without passing back into the head and neckportion.

The inflatable chest portion may comprise a releasable retainer whichoperates before release to reduce the air capacity of the chest portionto a volume representative of the lung capacity of a human child, thereleasable retainer being released by air pressure caused by continuedblowing of air into the mouth opening when the chest portion has beeninflated to an extent representative of the lung capacity of a humanchild.

An angle responsive air flow prevention device may be located betweenthe mouth opening and the inflatable chest portion to prevent flow ofair from the mouth opening to the inflatable chest portion when the headand neck portion is not sufficiently rearwardly inclined relative to thechest portion as is required in real life cardiopulmonary resuscitationand to permit air flow when the head and neck portion is rearwardlyinclined as required.

The mannequin may also include a resiliently compressible simulatedhuman heart portion located beneath the flexible chest wall member.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which;

FIG. 1 is a prespective view, partly in section, of a CPR mannequin in anon-operative position.

FIG. 2 is a side view, partly in section taken along the line 2--2 ofFIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of the air flow prevention device in aflow-preventing position,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the mannequin in anoperative position for practising pulmonary resuscitation,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the air flow preventiondevice in a flow-permitting position,

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of the flow control valve,

FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of the releasable retainer andassociated parts in the released configuration,

FIG. 8 is a similar view but showing the releasable retainer in theretained configuration, and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the CPR mannequin being used forpractising cardiac resuscitation.

Referring to the drawings, a CPR mannequin for practisingcardiopulmonary resuscitation of a human has a hollow blow-moldedsimulated human head and neck portion 12, the hollow interior 14 thereofforming an air passage extending from a mouth opening 16 and noseopenings 18 to a neck opening 20 in an end of the neck 22 remote fromthe head 24. The neck 22 has an external peripheral groove 26 near theend remote from the head 24 for attachment to the neck 22 of aninflatable simulated chest portion 28 in a manner which will bedescribed in more detail later.

The inflatable chest portion 28 has a flexible upper chest wall member30 which rises and falls with inflation and deflation of the chestportion 28. The upper chest wall member 30 has an attachment extension32 which extends substantially vertically downwardly from the end of thechest wall member 30 near the neck 22. The attachment extension 32 has acircular aperture 34 into which the neck 22 can be snap fitted with theaperture edge seating in the peripheral groove 26 to secure the chestportion 28 to the neck 22. The attachment extension 32 has a supportextension 38 extending from the lower end thereof under the upper wallmember 30, the support extension 38 engaging the floor 40 on which themannequin rests.

The upper wall member 30 also has an extension from the end thereofremote from the neck 22 which is reversely bent so as to form a lowerchest member 42 beneath the upper chest wall member 30. The lower chestwall member 42 extends under the upper chest wall member 30 as far asthe attachment extension 32. The lower chest wall member 42 is notattached to the upper wall chest member 30 except at its end, namely atthe reverse bend 44 and at the opposite end where the lower chest wallmember 42 is secured to the upper chest wall member 30 adjacent theattachment extension 32 in any suitable manner as indicated at 46. Theside edges of the lower chest wall member 42 are not attached to theside edges of the upper chest wall member 30. The upper and lower chestwall members 30, 42, the attachment extension 32 and the supportextension 38 may be made of a suitable foamed plastic material which issufficiently flexible to enable the upper chest wall member 30 to riseand fall and which is also sufficiently rigid to form an effectiveattachment portion 32 and support portion 38.

A simulated lung in the form of a flexible bag 48 is inserted betweenthe upper chest wall member 30 and the lower chest wall member 42 andits interior is connected to the air passage 14 in the head and neckportion 22 by a further air passage including an angle-responsive airflow prevention device 50 and a flow control valve 52. The air flowprevention device 50 is located in a straight rigid tube 54 extendingfrom the neck opening 20 and integral with the neck 22. The straighttube 54 has a plug 56 at the end opposite to the neck end to enable theair flow prevention device 50 to be inserted therein. One end of a rigidU-shaped tube 58 extends from the plug end of the straight tube 54 andis integral therewith. The other end of the U-shaped tube 58 isconnected to the inlet 60 of the flow control valve 52. The flow control52 has a main outlet 62 connected by a flexible tube 64 to the flexiblelung bag 48, the flexible tube 64 passing through an aperture 65 in thelower chest wall member 42.

The CPR mannequin also includes a simulated heart portion 68 which inuse rests on the floor 40 and is located under the chest portion 28. Theheart portion 68 has a peripheral groove 70 near its upper end which isa snap fit in an aperture 72 in the lower chest wall member 42. Theheart portion 68 is a hollow plastic molding and is designed to beresiliently compressible in a manner which will simulate a human heartso far as cardiac resuscitation is concerned.

The air flow prevention device 50, shown more particularly in FIGS. 3and 5, has an elongated housing 74 with an enlarged end portion 76 whichis a force-fit in the rigid straight tube 54. The housing 74 is hollowwith the end 78 near the neck 22 being closed and the opposite end 80being open. Inlet apertures 82 are provided in a medial portion of thehousing 74. The housing end 80 has an annular valve seat 84 which beforefitting thereto enables a ball valve member 86 to be inserted into thehousing 74 and then retained therein by installation of the valve seat84. The inner wall of the housing 74 is shaped so that, when themannequin is in the straight horizontal position shown in FIG. 2, seealso FIG. 3, a portion 88 of the inner wall adjacent the valve seat 84is horizontal and a part 90 of the inner wall extending from the inletapertures 82 towards the closed end 78 is downwardly inclined in adirection away from the neck opening 20.

It will be seen that, when the air flow prevention device 50 is orientedin the manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ball valve member 86 has rundown the inclined wall portion 90 onto the horizontal wall portion 88into engagement with the valve seat 84, thereby preventing air flowtherethrough. However, when the head 24 is tilted backwardly to theposition required for pulmonary resuscitation, as shown is FIGS. 4 and5, it will be seen that the ball valve member 86 has run down nowinclined wall portion 88 and now horizontal wall portion 90 to aposition where air flow from the inlets 82 through the annular valveseat 84 can now occur.

The flow control valve 52 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 6 and has a2-part housing, namely a first housing part 92 which has inlet 60 and asecond housing part 94 which has main outlet 62. Two housing parts 92,94 have a screw-threaded connection 96, and a flexible diaphram 98 hasits peripheral edge secured between the two housing parts 92, 94. Thediaphram 98 has a central duckbill inlet valve member 100. When air isblown through the inlet 60, the air pressure opens the duckbill valvemember 100 as indicated in dotted outline and hence air passes to themain outlet 62 and thereby passes to the lung bag 48. When air isflowing from the lung bag 48 back to the control valve 52, the duckbillvalve member 100 is not opened. Instead, the air pressure moves thediaphram 98 away from an annular valve seat 102 formed by housing part94 at the bottom of outlet 62, as also indicated in dotted outline, sothat air passes from the lung bag 48 to the atmosphere through apertures104 in the second housing part 94.

It was previously mentioned that the flexible tube 64 connects the valveoutlet 62 to a lung bag 48. This is shown in more detail in FIGS. 7 and8. A tubular connector 106 extends from the flexible tube 64 through aaperture 107 to a lower side 108 of the lung bag 48. The connector 106has a peripheral flange 110 which overlaps the aperture 107 in the lungbag 48. A retaining nut 112 is screwed onto the connector 106 to enablethe edge portion of the lower side 108 of the lung bag 48 surroundingthe aperture 107 to be clamped between the connector flange 110 and theretaining nut 112.

A releasable retainer pin 114 carried by the upper chest wall member 30projects downwardly therefrom so as to pass through the aperture 116 inthe upper side 118 of the lung bag 48, the edges of the aperture 116being reinforced by a flat annular ring 120. The lower end of theretainer pin 114 has an enlarged head 122 which is shaped to be a snapfit in a central aperture 124 in a partition 126 extending across theinterior of connector 106, the partition 126 also having a series ofapertures 128 at positions around the central aperture 124.

When the CPR mannequin is being used for training for adultresuscitation, the retaining pin 114 is not engaged in partition 126,this configuration being shown in FIG. 7. When the CPR mannequin isbeing used for training for a child resuscitation, the retaining pin 114is engaged in partition 126 as shown in FIG. 8 the effective aircapacity of lung bag 48 thereby being reduced to a volume representativeof the lung capacity of a child. It will be noted that the retaining pin114 has a head 129 engaging the top surface of the upper chest wallmember 30 and a friction washer 130 engaging the lower surface of theupper chest wall member 30 to secure the pin 114 to the upper chest wallmember 30.

Operation of the CPR mannequin will be readily apparent to a personskilled in the art from the foregoing description. It will thereforesuffice to mention that, for training for adult resuscitation, themannequin is in the position shown in FIG. 4 with the head 24 tiltedback to open the air flow prevention valve 50, thereby simulating theopening of the airway in the throat of a human, and with the retainingpin 114 free as shown in FIG. 7. Air is blown into the mouth opening 16of the mannequin by a trainee who at the same time closes the noseopenings 18. For hygenic reasons, a hygenic thin plastic bag 131 with anopen top and apertures 132 in its lower end is inserted into the mouthopening 16 so that the actual mouth opening 16 is not contacted by thetrainee, a different hygenic bag 131 being used for each trainee.

Air blown through the mouth opening 16 thus passes through the air flowprevention device 50 and through the flow control valve 52. The lung bag48 is thereby inflated, and such inflation causes the upper chest wallmember 30 to rise. When the lung bag 48 is deflated by hand pressure onthe upper chest wall member 30, air from the lung bag 48 is passed bythe flow control valve 52 directly to the atmosphere. Thus, air from thelung bag 48 does not pass back to the mouth and nose openings 16, 18,this feature of course also being important for hygenic reasons.

It will be seen that, as the lung bag 48 inflates, reinforcing washer120 on the lung bag 48 is pushed against the retaining washer 128 on thepin 114 to limit air leakage through the lung bag aperture 116.

When the mannequin is used for teaching child resuscitation, retainingpin 114 is engaged in partition 126 as indicated in FIG. 8. When air isblown into the mouth opening 16, the reduced lung capacity is veryquickly reached and further blowing into the mouth opening 16 will causeair pressure in the lung bag 48 to increase to such an extent that theretaining pin 116 is popped out of engagement with the partition 126,thereby indicating to the trainee the amount of blowing suitable forchild pulmonary resuscitation.

The cardiac part of CPR training is carried out in the manner indicatedin FIG. 9, with the simulated heart portion 48 giving the trainee anindication of the force necessary for cardiac resuscitation.

The advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to a personskilled in the art from the foregoing description of the preferredembodiment, the scope of the invention being defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:
 1. A CPR mannequin for practising cardiopulmonary resuscitationof a human comprising:a simulated human head and neck portion with anair passage extending from a mouth opening to a neck opening in an endof the neck remote from the head, an inflatable simulated human chestportion secured to the neck and having a flexible wall member simulatinga chest which rises and fall with inflation and deflation of the chestportion, said inflatable chest portion having an air capacityrepresentative of the lung capacity of a human adult, and a further airpassage connecting the air passage in the neck to the inflatable chestportion to enable air to be blown through the mouth opening and throughthe air passage in the head and neck portion and through the further airpassage into the chest portion to inflate the chest portion and causethe flexible chest wall member to rise, said inflatable chest portioncomprising a releasable retainer which operates before release to reducethe air capacity of the chest portion to a volume representative of thelung capacity of a human child, said releasable retainer being releasedby air pressure caused by continued blowing of air into the mouthopening when the chest portion has been inflated to an extentrepresentative of the lung capacity of a human child.
 2. A CPR mannequinaccording to claim 1 wherein an angle responsive airflow preventiondevice is located between the mouth opening and the inflatable chestportion to prevent flow of air from the mouth opening to the inflatablechest portion when the head and neck portion is not sufficientlyrearwardly inclined relative to the chest portion as is required in reallife cardiopulmonary resusitation and to permit said air flow when thehead and neck portion is rearwardly inclined as required.
 3. A CPRmannequin according to claim 1 also including a resiliently compressiblesimulated human heart portion located beneath the inflatable simulatedhuman chest portion.
 4. A CPR mannequin according to claim 1 alsoincluding a flow control valve assembly in the further air passageoperable to permit air blown through the mouth opening to pass throughthe air passage in the head and neck portion and through the further airpassage into the chest portion to inflate the chest portion and causethe flexible chest wall member to rise,said flow control valve assemblycausing air from the chest portion when deflating to be released to theatmosphere without passing back into the head and neck portion.